Public Television Service (PTS) chairman Cheng Tung-liao (鄭同僚) yesterday appealed to the Control Yuan to investigate the Government Information Office (GIO) for allegedly interfering with the television service.
Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬) accepted the appeal on behalf of the institution.
On Dec. 10 last year, the government watchdog censured the office after then-GIO minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) appointed eight members to the PTS’ board and confirmed their appointments without informing the Democratic Progressive Party of its right to recommend three new members.
The appeal accuses the office of ignoring the Control Yuan’s censure. The appeal also says that over the past eight months, the office has taken action six times against seven members of the PTS board, including asking for an injunction to suspend their positions and asking courts to annul decisions made by the board, in a bid to paralyze the television service.
Cheng said he hopes the Control Yuan will look into how the GIO raised the funds for the lawsuits and hold GIO officials responsible for “squandering public funds.”
At a separate setting yesterday, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said it would not intervene in the PTS’ personnel dispute and can only review the change of board directors.
“The Public Television Service is under the supervision of the GIO. The commission can only ascertain whether the board meeting determining the appointment of board directors is held legally and if the newly-appointed board members fulfill the qualification requirements stated in the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法),” NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said. “We do not have right to intervene in the PTS’ management change and the dispute between the GIO and the PTS.”
Chen added the commission does not want the dispute between GIO and PTS to affect the interests of the viewers.
The commission yesterday approved the appointment of Lin Chih-hsing (林志興) as the new board director of the PTS.
Despite the NCC’s approval, Lin and Cheng, as well as five other board directors, can neither attend board meetings nor ask others to exercise their rights on their behalf, because of a provisional disposition leveled against them by the GIO on the grounds that they had illegally convened board meetings and made rulings on important cases.
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